Of Guardians and Ghosts
by Hawki
Summary: Destiny/Keipr Online Oneshot: The Darkness had come. The Traveller had failed, and the last remnants of humanity had fled to the stars. Among them was an Awoken. And her barely functioning Ghost. Appropriate, in a way. Because the sons and daughter of Earth...they were all ghosts now.


**Of Guardians and Ghosts**

"Ah, you always take us to such nice places."

"Shut up Sparky."

The Ghost let out a spark, which Artemis supposed could be interpreted any number ways. Ranging from "okay" to "screw you," or any other of the possible responses in between.

_Figures. How is it that Ghosts have more personalities than exos?_

She supposed she'd never find out. Because the personnel of the _Keipir _had been mainly human, with a few Awoken. And not a single exo in sight. The charitable view was that when the Darkness had returned to Earth, to destroy both the Traveller and those it protected, the exos' programming had reasserted itself, sacrificing themselves to save their creators. The less charitable view was that their creators had managed to take all their prejudices with them when launching humanity's last starship.

Artemis supposed no-one would ever know. And she wasn't even human anyway.

"You do know that I'm about to die right?" the Ghost asked as the Awoken hunter made her way through the jungles of the colonists' world. The same jungles that surrounded the _Keipr_'s crash-site and the town that had sprung up around it. "Unless you've got anymore glimmer for me, I'm a goner."

Artemis gritted her teeth and kept moving up the hill. "You needn't be so blasé about it."

"Why not? You're the last of a dying race. Projections for the colony's gene pool are that the Awoken genome will be subsumed back by its human originator species."

"I don't care."

"Perhaps not. But you care so little about your species's future, so what's the difference about me not caring about my own?"

Artemis scowled behind her helmet. There was a world of difference, she thought. Sparky was an individual. A Ghost who'd been with her on Earth, the moon, and the worlds of the Sol system. He was the closest thing she had to a friend right now. Was a link to a world that had been destroyed. Him dying made all the difference in the world.

"So where we going anyway? I'll admit, this place is nicer than Old Russia, but, well, we were on Venus once. Jungles there were way better."

_Shut up Sparky._

"And look at the constellations from here? Bah. Earth ones were so much cooler."

"You're a robot Sparky, what do you care about stars?"

"You tell me, meatbag."

Artemis sighed. It would be better to get this over with. To just shut her Ghost down, and learn to adapt to this new world. Living in hope that the Darkness wouldn't come after them. That the Fallen, Cabal, and every other stinking alien had been destroyed along with humanity's home system. That maybe, just maybe, she could reach the top of the hill before Sparky shut down."

"Oh dear. I think I'm going to-"

Artemis caught Sparky before his anti-gravity system gave out. She cradled the sphere in her hands like it were a child.

"Thanks."

"Thank me when we reach our destination," Artemis said, still walking.

"And when will we get there? Least tell me it if I can't see it."

"_Can _you see?"

"Well, yes. My optic systems are still functioning and-"

"Good," Artemis said. "Because we're here."

The hunter flopped down on the edge of the hill, on a rock that separated the rise from the gap below. She held out the Ghost in what she hoped was a forward-facing direction.

"Nice view."

Which it was. Much to her relief.

"Bit cliché though."

Artemis sighed.

"I mean, an overlook of the township? The setting sun? Nice of this world to have a star like Sol. After all, what are the chances of-"

"Sparky!" Artemis exclaimed. "Just…just take it in, alright?"

The Ghost sighed. Or tried to. Because it sounded more like a splutter. Or an animal dying.

"Just…look at it Sparky," Artemis sighed, laying her Ghost down beside her. "Just…I dunno…"

"You don't…know?" the Ghost asked. "Don't know…why…we're here?"

"Maybe it's because…because we're all ghosts now," Artemis whispered. "Maybe we're doomed to die. Maybe the Darkness will find us."

"I hope…not."

Artemis half laughed, half sobbed. "Me too. But…you helped me Sparky. On Earth, in the Sol system…helped me survive. Helped me from not becoming a ghost myself."

"I find such…superstitions…interesting."

Artemis picked up her device. Her companion. Her friend. Did souls exist, the Fallen notwithstanding? Did AIs have them? Was there anything after death?

As Sparky let out his last artificial breath, as she stared over the new world he had helped her reach, she hoped so.

* * *

_A/N_

_I read that _Keipr Online _was a mix of _Destiny _and _The Wind Waker_, and seeing some of its artwork...yeah, I'm inclined to agree. Not that that's a bad thing though. Gave me the idea for this at least._


End file.
